MANDARIN, FL – Coast Guard Auxiliary Flotilla 14-8 held annual elections on Tuesday, November 1 at the Florida Tackle and Gun Club on San Jose Boulevard. Whit Vick was re-elected to the office of Flotilla Commander and Kevin Koehl was elected to the office of Vice Commander. Their terms begin January 1, 2012.

Vick joined the Coast Guard Auxiliary in 1998 in Georgia and transferred to the Mandarin Flotilla in 2008. Vick also serves as the Operations Officer for the Flotilla. He is qualified as an Auxiliary Coxswain and volunteers his boat as an Auxiliary Facility conducting safety patrols for the Coast Guard on the St. Johns River.

Koehl joined the Auxiliary in 2010 and also serves as Public Affairs Officer for the Flotilla.

With Hurricane Season well under way, and the recent activity in the Tropics, State Officials in Florida warn Residents and Visitors of the dangers of swimming in the Atlantic Ocean with strong Rip Currents.

Rip Currents can be 200 to 2,500 feet long but are normally no wider than 30 feet, and can not easily be seen. The current can move more than 5 miles per hour and knock someone off their feet in less than a foot of water.

Rip Currents account for about 80% of beach rescues, and many times people trying to help become victims themselves.

As the tropics churn in the waters of the Atlantic, surf is expected to pick up, and create powerful, dangerous Rip Currents along the coast through Friday.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. -- The Jacksonville Sharks are back in the River City as ArenaBowl XXIV champions. The team landed at the Jacksonville International Airport around 11:30 p.m. on Saturday.

Hundreds of fans waited to greet them at the gate and erupted in cheers and applause when the team came into the terminal shortly before midnight.

Jacksonville Sharks Head Coach Les Moss tells First Coast News he was blown away by the show of support. "This is great," said Moss. "This is great for Jacksonville and obviously our franchise. These fans are the best in the league."

Last year, 79 people died in boating accidents in Florida; 49 of them drowned.

“If people would simply wear life jackets, many lives would be saved each year,” said Maj. Paul Ouellette, regional commander for the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s (FWC) Northeast Region.

Manatees face added danger during busy holiday weekends, simply because there are generally more boaters on the water passing through manatee restricted-speed zones. Boaters should be aware of where the zones are, so they don’t have any surprises when they come upon them. Maps of the zones can be found at MyFWC.com/Manatee.